Today, my friends were in town, so I decided to show them around Boston for a bit. After parking at the
Boston Common Garage, we decided to get some breakfast from the
Clover Food Lab food truck on the
Boston Common, where I got the Popover, while my friends got coffee and their Egg Sandwich. I enjoyed my Popover, although it would have been better with jam.
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| Egg Sandwich |
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| Popover |
Next, we passed through the
Boston Public Garden to get to the shops on Newbury Street, passing by the
Emmanuel Episcopal Church.
We then walked to
Copley Square, where I took a picture of the monument beside the
Trinity Church
We then went inside the main branch of the
Boston Public Library, visiting the exhibition shocasing
Rafael Guastavino's architectural work, who designed the beautiful library building.
From here, we headed to the
Top of the Hub restaurant at the top of the
Prudential Center, where my friend ordered the Creme Brulee and the Organic Crisp Cucumber Mojito, while I got the assorted cookies for everyone.
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| Creme Brulee |
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| Assorted Cookies |
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| Organic Crisp Cucumber Mojito |
We sat there for some time enjoying the cookies and the views of Boston below, although the sweetness of the cookies soon became too much for us to eat more.
Going back down to ground level, I decided to bring my friends to walk along the
Charles River Esplanade, where I took pictures of the Charles River and the
Cecil and Ida Green Building in
MIT
Walking all the way back to the Boston Common, we decided to do the
Freedom Trail, passing through the
Granary Burying Ground and
Suffolk University Law School on the way to
Faneuil Hall Marketplace, where we decided to have lunch at the Salty Dog Seafood Grille and Bar at 206 South Market Street.
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Franklin Monument,
Granary Burying Ground |
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| Suffolk University Law School |
In previous times when I passed by this place, I always thought it was a fancy place, but this time, when I actually entered it, it looked more like a seafood shack. I would say that the food we got was just average as well.
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| Crabcake Sandwich |
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| Combo Platter |
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| New England Clam Chowder |
After our lunch, we continued on the Freedom Trail to the
North End, passing through the Curley Memorial Plaza and the
New England Holocaust Memorial
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Curley Memorial Plaza,
North street and Congress Street |
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| New England Holocaust Memorial |
In the North End, I wanted to have my friends try out
Mike's Pastry, but the line was so long that we gave up on the endeavor immediately. Continuing along, we passed by the
St. Leonard's Church, where there is also a Peace Garden here.
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| St. Leonard's Peace Garden |
I wanted to get to the other side of the church to take a good picture of it, entering the place, but not finding an alternate way out. The inside of the church was pretty nice though.
Finally out on Prince Street, I was able to take a decent picture of the church
On the way to the Paul Revere Mall on Hanover Street between Clark Street and Harris Street, we passed by 2 other churches.
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Sacred Heart Italian Church,
10 North Square |
Paul Revere Mall was a small walkway, with an impressive looking statue of
Paul Revere on horseback.
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| Paul Revere |
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| Fountain |
At the other end of the mall is the famous
Old North Church, with the St. Francis of Assisi Garden beside it.
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| St. Francis of Assisi Garden |
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| Old North Church |
Heading toward the
Charlestown Bridge, I took a picture of the
Residence Inn Marriott Boston Tudor Wharf.
On the eastern side of the bridge, there were nice views of the
Charles River
After crossing the bridge, we passed by the
City Square Park on the way to the
Charlestown Navy Yard.
At the Charlestown Navy Yard, where the museums were free to visit, we headed to the
USS Constitution first, where we had to go through an airport like check first before being able to get onto the ship. Pictures of the ship, nicknamed "Old Ironsides" because cannonballs fired at her always seemed to bounce off the thick walls of the ship, follow.
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| Cannons on deck |
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| Powder kegs |
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| The Dining Room |
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| Looking out the back |
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| At the wheel |
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| Captain's room |
The
USS Cassin Young was right next door, but it was too late in the day for tours on it.
We then headed to the USS Constitution Museum next door, which talks about the 200 year history of the ship we were just on.
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| Ship with sails furled |
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| Tailormade uniforms |
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| Paul Revere |
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| Ship with sails unfurled |
Our final stop for the day was the
Bunker Hill Monument. By now, it was too late to climb up it, but at least my friends had a chance to see it up close.
From here, we were so tired that we decided to take a cab back to
Oishii, where we had plans for dinner. After an expensive cab ride where the driver did not know where he was going, we realized we still had some time before dinner, so we decided to visit Chinatown for a bit, heading through the
Chinatown Park on Surface Road and Beach Street.
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| Chinatown Park |
Heading back to Oishii, we waited a little for our friends to come before starting to order. First came the appetizers, namely the
Konbu Cured King Salmon (Chilled corn dashi veloute, fresh strawberries, avocado cilantro mousse, smoked popcorn), where the meat just melted in our mouths, the Crispy Pork Belly (
red miso, shiso, pickled shallots), the Salmon on Fire and
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| Konbu Cured King Salmon |
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| Crispy Pork Belly |
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| Salmon on Fire |
My chef friend gave us a few complimentary appetizers as well, the best of which was the fugu (puffer fish) appetizer, which was exquisitely different. The tuna tartare, which came on a large ice block, was too sour for me as always, though.
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| Fugu |
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| Tuna Tartare |
For entrees, we got the O-Toro on risotto, the Steamed Salmon which came with
baby spinach, sauteed soba noodles and Red Miso Sauce, the Maki Covered with Toro (Spicy Mayo, Asparagus, Cucumber, bonito Flakes, Toro torched on top with gingery sauce and Jalapeno), and the Crispy Mango Maki (Crispy Tempura Flakes, Mango, Cucumber, spicy mayo, topped with tuna and mango, with fudachi and soy yuzu honey glaze)
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| O-Toro |
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| Steamed Salmon |
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| The Maki Covered with Toro |
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| Crispy Mango Maki |
The best part of the night was to come with the desserts. We ordered 5 in all, but as it was my birthday, each came with a trick candle for me to blow out, and I had a hard time blowing each one out.
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| Red Bean Creme Brulee |
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| Yubari Ice Melon and Green Tea Layer Cake |
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| Coconut Sphere |
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| Sesame Ice Cream Bonbon |
The part I did not expect was the big cake my friend brought out for me, which he had made meticulously. That really made my night.
After dinner, we decided to head out for drinks, going first to the lounge at
W Boston hotel, but it was too crowded, so we headed to
Rock Bottom next door instead, where I got a Passion Fruit Mojito to pass the time.
After my chef friend got off work and joined us for a bit, we decided that we were all too tired, so we headed home for the day.
I'm just happy that all my friends came to town to celebrate my birthday with me.
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